Italian Eggplant Sauce with Tempeh and Spinach Spaghetti

Today was a glorious day! I thank God for the sunny days these last couple of days. From what I hear, it is very unusual but I do not care. I will take sunshine anytime over gray weather, you know? The only think I need to take advantage of is wearing good thermal underwear. I guess I have not been looking at weather forecast to be warned of the -1 or -5 wind chill. As a result, I experienced my first cold rash that was somewhat painful. ERG! I learned from yesterdays mistake and wore them today. Good thing because the fire alarm was pulled by one of the kiddies at church today and we had to stand in cold weather for 5-10 minutes.

After church, I prepared lunch with an Italian flair. It had been a while since I cooked Italian so I decided to use the tempeh purchased from Trader Joes. For a while I did not know what to do with tempeh so I ignored it in my fridge. I decided today that I would be adventurous. I pan fried the tempeh with olive oil and garlic and sliced onions. I then proceeded to add the rest of the ingredients to make a sauce similar to the sauce prepared for Penne alla Norma except I made it my own recipe. The result was suprisingly good. As usual my husband asked me if was my recipe or one I found. I then proceeded to ask whether he liked it. He did! Score! One more vegan dish down as a success for the carnivore in the family.

I know I needed to prepare a hearty dish since we had been invited to go cross-country skiing with friends from church. It was my first time to ski at all so I was a bit nervous. I always thought I had a gimp right leg since it has been in 3-4 accidents in the last 10-12 years, but I knew I could no longer live in fear. After all, I was told cross-country was on flat land right? No. Not at the park we went to. It had small hills that scared the crap out of me! Here is what I felt like! Well, I have never experienced winter sports so this was fun!

After an hour of mastering cross-country skiing (NOT), I decided to give me ankles a break. The plight of a flat-footed cook. Sigh.. Either way, I had tons of fun and the laughs were great.

From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen

Later in the evening my husband and I craved pizza so we decided to try a new place near our duplex that serves gluten-free pizzas and dairy-free cheese for eating-impaired. My husband ordered a pepperoni, mushroom, tomato pizza and I had a hand-tossed vegetarian pizza with Daiya vegan cheese. It melts y'all! I mean it was probably the tastiest cheese I have ever eaten. Guidos Pizza in Okemos is the place to go and has been saved as a great vegan-friendly place.

From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen

Italian Eggplant Sauce with Tempeh and Spinach Spaghetti

serves 3

4 ounces whole Grain Tempeh, sliced in 1/2 inch strips
4 garlic cloves
1 onion, sliced
2 Tbsp olive oil
16 ounces whole, peeled tomatoes
1 cup eggplant, peeled and diced
1 cup spinach, chopped
6 ounces Organic Spinach Spaghetti
2 tsp Italian seasonings
2 tsp Tony's seasonings
1 tsp crushed red pepper

Heat olive oil in saucepan over medium heat. Add sliced tempeh, garlic, and onions and pan fry for 5-7 minutes or until tempeh looks lightly browned.

Boil water for pasta and prepare according to packaging. Cook 2 minutes less and drain so pasta can finish cooking in the sauce.

Add tomatoes, eggplant, and spices and boil for another 5-7 minutes. The spinach is the last thing to be added in order not to over cook.

Add pasta and mix sauce thoroughly through pasta. Add soy parmesan for taste.

Serve with a green salad and enjoy!